Beach Ripped: Cardio for Fat Loss
Cardio is the most misunderstood exercise in the world. This is increasingly true when we are talking about fat loss.
Very rarely do people give cardio the credit it deserves. On one hand, you have people that completely overvalue cardio training. On the other hand, you have people that consider cardio to be a complete waste of time.
In this article, I wish to clear up any confusion regarding cardio and its role in fat loss and body composition.
Say No to Cardio?
The recent trend in the fitness industry is to lift weights to promote muscle growth and use diet exclusively to lose fat or stay lean.
I feel that this can be an effective approach and a great starting point for most people. You definitely don’t want to get in the habit of relying on excessive amounts of exercise to lose weight and stay lean.
That being said, the lift and diet strategy only works well for two types of people.
One – people that are just looking to maintain their weight and don’t need to tap into a calorie deficit.
Two – people who are moderately active during the day and have larger energy expenditures.
However, for those of us who are mostly sedentary, this no cardio approach can mean one of two things when it comes to losing weight.
- We lose weight at a slow rate
- We have to consume very low calories
The reality of the situation is that most of us are sedentary. We drive to work, sit on our butts all day and spend a negligible amount of time on our feet. Many of us are lucky to get a combined 30 minutes of walking per day.
This results in very low energy expenditures. To even tap into a calorie deficit, we have to eat a very modest amount of food.
The Fat Loss Advantage of Cardio
By increasing our movement and giving our bodies 30-45 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, we can burn 300-600 calories. This gives us much more room to work within our diet.
As well, getting exercise on a daily basis helps with dietary adherence. People are more likely to follow through with their diet if they are exercising that day.
I have found that for sedentary individuals, getting 30-45 minutes of exercise on non-lifting days can help tremendously. You’ll be much more satisfied as you’ll be able to consume considerably more food and lose weight.
In addition, 30-45 minutes of cardio is relatively short. That’s like one episode of television.
How many of us watch a few hours of tv each day? Not to mention, getting exercise on a daily basis helps with mood, energy levels, motivation…
Lastly, this amount of cardio shouldn’t have too much of an impact on your appetite and hunger.
Too much of a good thing
There’s always the risk that someone will think a moderate amount of cardio is beneficial, therefore an extreme amount of cardio will be even more effective.
This train of thinking is flawed and leads to doing more harm than good.
With too much cardio you can cause what is known as cardio compensation. This is where you reach a point where any additional calories burned will result in a proportional increase in hunger.
This is much more apparent during longer 1-2 hour cardio workouts. These marathon long cardio sessions tend to create an insatiable appetite.
What’s more, very long cardio sessions can cut into recovery and negatively impact strength gains and muscle mass.
Putting Cardio into Perspective
One of the reasons why cardio gets such a bad rep is because it’s so easy to undo an entire cardio session if you’re not careful.
Let’s say that you did cardio for one hour and burned 500 calories. A serving of dessert after dinner could completely offset that one hour of cardio. In this scenario, your 60 minutes in the gym was traded for the few minutes of pleasure from a dessert.
This scenario is common with people who solely use cardio to
stay lean and let the chips fall where they may on their diet. Obviously this is not an ideal strategy for body composition.
However, this is not the approach I am suggesting. My preference is to pay close attention to your diet and to use cardio synergistically.
This is the ultimate fat loss plan. It’s a two vs one fight. Cardio + Diet vs Body fat.
Why Cardio Should Be Used?
Let me give you a perspective on cardio that will help you understand why I value cardio training and how I like to use it.
Let’s say that you’re an average male who isn’t very active aside from 3 strength workouts per week.
On your lift days, your maintenance calorie requirements are around 2500. However, on your rest days, your maintenance requirements are considerably less at only 2100-2200.
On your lifting days, you can consume 2000 calories and be at an optimal 500 calorie deficit. Unfortunately, on your rest days you need to cut calories down to 1600-1700 to be at that same 500 calorie deficit.
Wouldn’t it be far more enjoyable to exercise at a comfortable intensity for 30-40 minutes and consume 2000 calories than have to eat very low calories? If you feel this way then cardio is probably for you!
So ultimately, with cardio, you should already be eating under your calorie requirements. Cardio will help increase that calorie deficit so that you can lose fat at an appreciable rate.
Beach Ripped Cardio Recommendations
Forget about intervals, CrossFit, p90x, insanity, complexes, circuits, medley’s, and the tough mudder. If you’re doing cardio to get lean then it’s a matter of burning calories while sidestepping overtraining and increased hunger.
Don’t let the allure of a turbocharged metabolic rate fool you. That’s a myth, a marketing ploy.
The afterburn effect of intense exercise is at best, a mere 15% of calories burned. Now that we have that out in the open let’s proceed with the workout.
Ultimately, the type of cardio you should do is what you enjoy the most provided that you stick to a few key principles.
- Aim to burn a certain number of calories per session – 2-3 calories per pound of bodyweight.
- Avoid activity that impairs recovery for strength and muscle building workouts.
Abide by those two principles and you’re in the clear. The options are endless, really!
You can go for a long walk, alternate walking and jogging, mountain bike, jump rope, hit up the cardio machines, play a multitude of sports, swim, hike, shadow box, dance……… The aim of, of course, is for movement and increased energy expenditure while realizing all of the amazing health benefits of daily exercise.
Now for the sake of simplicity and convenience, I will outline a fun cardio protocol that you can do at your gym. The goal of the session is to burn calories, increase fat loss and avoid boredom.
Beach Ripped Cardio Workout
1.) Treadmill Interval Pyramid
Duration – 2 min walk / 1 min jog x 6-8 or 1:15 walk / 45 second run x 10-12
For gym cardio, I always like to start with some form of interval. This is not because I feel that intervals magically boost my metabolism to the stratosphere but rather, it goes by much faster as my mind always has something to focus on.
This is also not to be mistaken with high-intensity interval training, in which you’re exerting a maximal effort. With that type of training, you are at risk of cutting into recovery capabilities while on a diet.
For these, I like to use a 2-degree incline and walk at 3.8mph (4.0 mph seems unnaturally fast for a walk).
For my first interval, I will run at a comfortable 6mph. With each interval that passes I will build up the speed.
Depending on how I’m feeling I might go up by 0.5 or 1 mph each interval. So I might do 6-7-8-9-9.5-10. If the diet is getting to me or I don’t have the energy I might just jog at 6 or 6.5 during the running portion of the interval.
Nothing is 100% set in stone with cardio workouts so you can take the ball and run with it or walk with it. This is completely different than how I approach my strength training workouts, which are very structured, goal-oriented and maximal effort.
Note: We’ll be tracking calories during cardio. Make sure to manually enter your weight into the machine for a more accurate calorie burn reading.
2.) Steady State Cardio
Duration – 10-20 minutes
During the first portion of the workout, the intervals, you should have been able to burn around 200-300+ calories.
This is largely dependent on your weight, cardiovascular shape, and level of exertion.
During the second portion of the workout, you will aim to burn the remainder of your calorie target off. I like to go at a low to moderate intensity for active recovery and fat burning. Somewhere around 60-70% of your maximal heart rate.
Again the options are endless for this: I like to hit up an elliptical style machine, the one with the handles that you can push.
I opt to avoid the bike and the rower for a couple of reasons: Much of my day is spent in the seated, spine compressing position, why add to that while exercising? As well, I can burn significantly more calories on the elliptical machine.
My favorite modalities for this part of the cardio workout include: jumping rope, elliptical (pushing handles) and incline walking.
For incline walking, I will pyramid the incline for fun. So I will walk at 3.8mph and increase the incline by 1 each minute until the half-way point. Then I’ll decrease the incline by 1 each minute until I’m finished.
3.) Stretching and Abs Training
This is an ideal time to train your abs and stretch out any tight muscle groups.
I like to do a lot of hanging abdominal movements. These exercises build very strong abs and don’t cause any low back pain like most crunching movements.
I finish off with bridging, the king of all exercises. Bridging is the reason why I have been free of lower back pain for 2 years. These movements also serve to decompress and elongate your spine, you may notice you stand slightly taller, a nice side benefit.
- Leg Raises (hanging bent leg, hanging straight leg or from dip bar): 3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Side to Side Knee ups or Abs Whee Roll outs: 2 sets x max reps
- Hip/Back Bridge Hold: 2-3 sets x 20 seconds
- Bonus stretches (optional)
Notes: rest 1-2 minutes between sets.
Calorie Targets
I’d recommend aiming to burn about 2-3 calories per pound of bodyweight.
So if you’re 150 lbs, you’d aim to burn 300-450 calories per session. This is a reasonable amount, shouldn’t take too long to complete and will result in a proportionally smaller increase in appetite than calories burned.
So you might find that it’s just as easy to consume 2000 calories per day on complete rest days as cardio days.
Beach Ripped Cardio Q&A
1.) I play (insert sport here) 2-3 times per week, should I still do cardio?
If you are involved in sports then you can count that as your cardio workout. So on a day that you are playing a particular sport, you won’t need to do a cardio workout. Only do cardio workouts on days that you are not active or lifting weights.
2.) I work manual labor, should I still do cardio?
If you work manual labor then your energy expenditure will be very high. If you are spending several hours per day walking, lifting, moving and doing physical tasks there is no need for additional calorie-burning exercise. Lift weights 3x per week to build strength and maintain muscle and that’s about it.
3.) I find that on days I do cardio I become very hungry?
There are some individuals that find even 30-45 minutes of cardio exercise can make them much hungrier. If that’s the case for you and you find it more enjoyable to eat low calories without cardio then go for it. Alternatively, you can try just doing a limited amount of exercise. Maybe a 10-30 minute walk to see how that affects your appetite/cravings.
4.) Won’t cardio cause me to lose strength and muscle?
If you stick to the cardio protocol that I laid out, there will be no negative impact on strength, power or muscle mass.
Take a look at athletes from a wide array of sports including basketball, hockey, rugby, boxing, mixed martial arts….. These athletes have incredible cardiovascular fitness and in most cases great strength and muscle development.
Not to mention, many of these athletes are required to do cardio-intensive activities for several hours per day.
The belief that cardio training will cause you to sacrifice strength, power and muscle mass has been completely over exaggerated in the fitness/bodybuilding world. For this to even remotely come about, you’d already have to be very big, strong and muscular so that your body would need to take a turn to efficiency.
As well, you would have to push the cardio to the limit. Perform cardio frequently and push your body very hard so that you are signaling improvements in endurance are demanded.
Remember this, high-level aerobic fitness and elite strength and power are opposite adaptations. You’ll rarely come about a 500 lbs squatter who can run 3 miles in under 20 minutes. Trying to get stronger while trying to train for a road race is never the best idea.
If you’ve read this article you will understand that I am not trying to get you in top physical condition for an endurance competition. We are simply using cardio as a tool to increase fat loss.
Therefore those extreme endurance-based physiological changes will not take place. Instead, you will just maintain a reasonable level of cardio fitness, think of it as your base. You can build strength and muscle at the maximal rate with this base.
However, if you want to take your cardio to the extreme, you will need to put your strength and muscle into maintenance mode. Like the Chinese proverb, the man who chases two chickens catches none.
Do you want the fastest results?
Beach Ripped Article Series
- Part 1 – DIY Guide
- Part 2 – Counting Macros
- Part 3 – Cardio for Fat loss
- Part 4 – Single Digit Body Fat
For the strength training routine I recommend performing the strength and density program from my Greek God Program. It is ideal for cutting. If you don’t have the program, the next best thing would be the Warrior Shredding Program.
*Your results may vary. Testimonials and examples used are exceptional results and are not intended to guarantee, promise, represent and/or assure that anyone will achieve the same or similar results.
Your Kino Question For The Day: How has the article helped you to get beach ripped? Let me know in the comments below.
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hey Greg!
I’m currently performing a manual labour job and burn a lot of calories in the morning. Should I still fast or get some food?
Hi Greg, Ive been cutting and for two years trying to maintain my leaness but recently, ive been gaining a lot of weight, and my abs are disappearing. Im still eating the same amount of calories as before. The worst part is that my morning wood is totally gone, and sex drive has decreased.
Are there any recommendations you have?
Hey Greg,
I am now at a weight of 78kg with a height of 176cm.
My BF is approximately at 18-20%.
I’m lifting 4x times a week.
My goal is it to loose my bodyfat and get to a level of 12 % and to gain some muscles.
Do I need to do 2x Cardio for an Hour a week or is it too much?
I really dont want to look big, that means high bodyfat and much muscles.
I want that lean muscular physique.
So what do you think?
Thank you and greets from Germany!
You need to focus predominately on proper nutritioN! Cardio is helpful, but it’s all about nutrition. Check out my warrior program, that would be perfect for you. http://shreddingprogram.com
Definitely want to incorporate cardio into my week, right now I can only train Monday, Wednesday and Friday the rest of the week I’m booked. Would doing low moderate cardio after heavy lifting help or should I just lower my Cal intake. I work in a restaurant so I’m on my feet all day at work. Thanks.
You’re on your feet all day, cardio won’t do shit to get you lean. Lift and focus on nutrition.
Hey Greg!
I’m a lazy person so I’d like to know how you would change the caloric goal calculation in the WSP for each day for someone who doesn’t do cardio on the rest days.
Thanks!
I’d go down to about 11 calories per day. Or 12 cals on lift days and 10 cals on rest days.
what do you think about 30-60m of low intensity (130-150bpm) cardio 4-5x a week when on a cut, along with your warrior shredding weights workout? would this be too much, or would it be fine given it’s low intensity?
Yeah you can do it. But I would just do brisk walking. Adding cardio exercise to a diet doesn’t help that much. And the time investment is awful.
Hey Greg,
I have some belly fat, about 190 lbs but my arms are lean. I love doing HIIT but I get knee pain very easily. I desperately want to shred the belly fat and gain some muscle mass. Whats the best way to go about it ?
Well you don’t actually have to do HIIT. You just need to eat at a deficit. Going for 45 minute walks on rest days is helpful.
Thanks Greg. I am trying to build a pal so that I can shred fat and gaining muscle at the same time. With so many types of strength training and so few days in a week (including off days), I am little confused about how to build a routine for the next month or two. Can you give some suggestions here ?
Hey Greg
I really find your work inspiring, I have recently started your warrior programme and wanted to know how to implement my cardio into my week.
I cycle to work (empty stomack ) which takes 20mins , then 20mins backI do this four times a week .
Hopefully you can help me with this , I was wondering if I could extend my rount to work on somedays to 45mins so that’s how I get it in and for how many days.
Thanks for your support and appolagise for the length PS I am able to walk to work for rest days just takes longer hhahaha
Thanks man! There’s no need to extend your route. You could always just add 20 minutes of walking on rest days and you’d be set.
But it prevent muscle loss. Even though cardio works great for burning bodyfat, you run the risk of also burning up some of your muscle mass in the process. During cardio your body not only burns fat for fuel, but it can also dip into your skeletal muscle tissue and use it as a source of easily accessible amino acids to help fuel your exercise efforts. BCAA’s has been shown to increase protein synthesis while at the same time decreasing catabolism
There’s really not much concern with losing muscle during fasted cardio. You are being subjected to scaremongering. Do you really think that’s a legitimate concern? Unless you’re doing cardio for 90+ minutes you have nothing to worry about. Moreover, the muscle you’re talking about burning is glycogen, you will replenish this when you eat. And if you’re getting enough protein over the course of the day then you will be in a positive state for muscle building, even if you did cardio fasted. But besides, the growth hormone boost will be blunted if you do bcaa before training. ANd growth hormone helps shift fuel metabolism away from muscle and towards fat tissue.
Why don’t you take some BCCA before you do some cardio.
(because you also do your cardio sessions on an empty stomach)
Please let me know. Thx
Why would I? I’d rather have my growth hormone levels very high and I’m doing the cardio for fat loss.
To follow this cardio plan should I do this while in a fasted state or can I do this anytime before my last evening meal which is usually my largest if I wait about four hours or so after my first meal?
You can do this workout anytime really before your last meal. You can do it 3 hours after eating.
Greg, you don’t get pleasure from a desert :P
can I do the cardio stuff after my workouts too or is it just too much?
It’s really not necessary. You could do about 15 minutes of brisk walking but that’s about all that you’d want to do.
Hi Greg. Quick question and sorry if you may have covered this. In the section above “Why Cardio Should Be Used?” you mention calories on lifting days and calories on rest days. Does that mean that the only time the activity multiplier should be applied to bmr is for lifting days and perhaps the light multiplier for rest days? Just for a quick example. If the bmr is calcuated to be 2000, should only lifting days be using multiplier 1.375 to be 2750 and rest days be 2000. With a total weekly caloric intake of 16,250 an average of 2321 per day. Would the 2321 be actual daily maintenance or is the 2750 even though we are not lifting more than 3 days per week? Thanks for your input and again sorry if you have covered this.
The cardio will equate to a similar calorie burn as weight training. So assume equal calories each day.
i want both muscular endurance and aerobic capacity , so what do you recommend in order to reach that?
Don’t worry about training muscular endurance specifically. Building strength in the 5-8 rep range will actually boost muscular endurance significantly. I’d suggest intervals for 16-20 minutes 2x per week to build stamina.
thanks,man.
i wanted to improve my stamina and flexibility as much as possible and also build the greek god physique but like you said you can’t do both at the same time , so what is your opinion on what to do first :
should i build the greek god physique and then improve my stamina and flexbility OR improve my stamina and flexibility first to the level i want then start to build muscle ?
and what exercises do you recommend to reach maximum stamina and flexibility ?
Well you can work on flexibility for 10-15 minute each day. That’s fine.
What do you mean by stamina? Muscular endurance or aerobic capacity?
If i want to avoid some days the machines can i alternate walking and jogging outside in the park for example? I mean 1 min walking and 1 minute semi-running for 20 min and then for Steady State Cardio can I walk for 10 mins or is it better jogging for Steady State Cardio ?
Yes definitely!
Hi Greg. Awesome articles.
You are the first bodybuilder that is not on HITT and that’s a surprise. Ive been following muscleforlife.com programs and there is said that HIIT is better because it burns less muscle and more fat and takes less time, off course separate from weight.
If all that matters is calories burned, wouldn’t be the same to burn 300 calories for a short HIIT session than burning them from a low and boring steady state cardio mayble using some aminoacids for fuel?
Well I think that HIIT is more effective than low intensity cardio if there is no strength training workouts being performed. Now if you’re engaging in strength training, I find it’s best to keep the cardio on the low intensity side to avoid interfering with recovery. I actually make much better strength and muscle gains when I’m not doing HIIT.
Pedro, if you are doing cardio after your strength training then you don’t need to do HIIT. HIIT is effective because it allowed you to release fatty acids in your blood stream. Intense weight lifting program done before doing steady cardio will allow you to accomplish the same goal.
If you lift every day then simply add 20 minutes of light jogging or incline walking at the end of your workout, if you alternate cardio and strength training then you can do HIIT for 15-20 minutes and then follow it with 20-30 minutes of steady cardio (about 70% of you max HR).
Hey Greg awesome post!, anyway, I would like to incorporate cardiac exercise to my routine, so I don’t have to eat low calories, anyway I am not a big fan of running so I have 2 questions
1- can I do long distance walks instead of running or jogging?
2- if so what would you recommend?
Yes, I’d recommend walking 3-4 miles on non lifting days
Thanks for the speedy reply man. Not particularly..walking sounds way better!
Hi Greg,
Awesome website man!!! I was curious on your take on jogging 3-4 miles at a 9’30” – 10’30” pace 3x week for cardio while doing your warrior physique workout regimen. Will that impede recovery or negatively spike cortisol?
Thanks in advance!
Patrick
Jogging 3-4 miles 3x per should be fine if you love to jog. But if you don’t really enjoy running then I’d advise against doing so as it’s really not necessary to get lean. I prefer long walks.
Hi Greg,
I am doing your muscle building course 3 times per week and your Interval Workout egg. (60 seconds jump roping / 60 seconds rest x 7 = 14 minutes), 2x per week on rest days. Will this cardio sessions cut into the recovery and negatively impact strength gains and muscle mass?
No that should be fine. I’d try and add some walking on rest days for more calorie burning. Add 30 minutes of brisk walking after the jump rope sessions. And 45 minutes on the 2 other rest days. This can be split up 2-3 times during the day. It will speed up fat loss.
Hey Greg, that’s for all the great info on your site–it really cuts away all the BS of the fitness industry. I’m looking to shed some fat quickly–I’m at about 9% BF according to my scale, but there’s still some stubborn belly fat. I used to Insanity or Les Mill’s BodyAttack on cardio days. That’s about an hour of HIIT. Is that too much or an acceptable amount of cardio? Thanks, man!
Well it’s mostly a matter of nutrition. I prefer to drop fat with less of an emphasis on cardio and a larger focus on strength training 3x per week. I would focus on nailing your diet and not overdoing the cardio. My preference is for lower intensity cardio work.
Thanks for the advice. I’ve been doing the strength, the interval training you recommend, and the diet, but there’s still that little bit of belly fat. I’ll keep at lower-intensity and see how that goes.
Greg, what’s your take on incline cardio? A friend is doing a program where that is the only kind of cardio allowed. He recommends 8-12% incline at 3-4mph, and does it on strength days too.
I think incline cardio is pretty effective! That said, 8-12% is a very steep incline and very hard to maintain for several minutes. I actually like to start at 1% and pyramid up to 12-15% and then pyramid back down.
I’ve done both p90x and Insanity, and have amazing results from both.
Greg if your following your plan and working out 3x a week. On how many rest days would you recommend doing a ‘beach-ripped cardio style workout.’
Do you do cardio after weights as well as these other cardio workouts?
How many complete rest days should you give yourself?
Two would be pretty good. That would also give you two rest days. You could bump it up to three for faster results. Definitely leave yourself with one full rest day.
Thanks
Hey Greg
I was wondering if I should drop leg day completely since im doing HIIT three times a week? I’d like to maintain my strength on legs, so would you think three sets RPT style then do HIIT+Steady State is too much for legs in one session?
That should probably be tolerable.
Actually, I think I’ll drop the leg day, haha! Legs are totally burnt and my squat numbers are going down. Not sure if I should drop squats in favor of HIIT or vice versa. I’d like your opinion on this.
I never realized how draining HIIT can be on the CNS and musculoskeletal system. I just got done reading an article about HIIT saying it should be looked at as the equivilent of
of squats as it goes for CNS stress and its very anabolic.
One more thing I wanted to ask and I need your help on. I busted up my wrist and im currently in a cast on my left arm. Since I can’t be doing upper body movements for the next 6-8weeks, I’m trying to put a plan together based around my handicap. Would you recommend 3xHIIT per week? Or maybe something like squats 1 day a week and HIIT once a week equaling to 2 workouts per week? I can do pec deck for chest/rear delts at my gym with a cast on, I think. I never tried yet. If I end up doing 2 days a week, I’d probably lower my cals a bit on rest days and just increase slightly on 2 days per week.
Let me know what you think, Greg. I appreciate your help.
Well you need to determien your own unique goals. If gaining leg muscle and strength is important to you then I’d recommend keeping leg day and doing intervals only once or twice per week. If you don’t want to add more leg muscle and strength then stick purely to HIIT. Yes, that looks like a good plan while your arm is recovering.
Hey Greg.
Great article (as always).
I was wondering, would it be OK to skip SSC and just do the interval (2 min walk, 1 min jog) for 40 – 50 minutes?
After 20 minutes of interval I feel this nice hyped up sensation and I just wanna keep on going.
I have a walking speed of 6 km/h and the jog is 10,5 km/h.
I hope this doesn’t cut into recovery, cause doing it this way really makes cardio so much more fun, for me.
As always fantastic work with these articles.
Best regards:
Phil
Yah man! That’s perfectly fine. I actually really like alternating 2 min walk with 1 milk jog. Sometimes I’ll do 1:15 walk and 45 second jog just to mix it up. No need to overdo it and go balls to the walls.
Greg,
I am doing very well and I have cut 14 pounds within two and a half weeks (from 177 to 163) using intermittent fasting. I have added an increase of muscle mass by using a combination of about 100 grams of animal protein, 52 grams protein powder (the cheap brand from wall-mart), and 8 grams of creatine monohydrate a day (5g of the GNC made powder and 3g from the protein shake.). The strength gain workout is the superhero workout, which I have been following since late February. However, I am still frustrated that my abs, especially the lower portion of my abs, are not visible unless I flex. Is there any suggestions, like going less in protein? As a college student, I am at the mercy of whatever food that the cafe serves. Do you have any advice?
Dude! Those are some crazy fast results. Don’t freak out because your lower abs aren’t visible without flexing, most people would kill to be in your position. Not to mention, it’s only been 2.5 weeks. Give it some more time and they will start to come in more. A lot of the time you have to get leaner than you initially think. Don’t cut protein, keep doing what you’re doing, it’s working.
Yeah man, the intermittent fasting has made all of the difference in my physique. I blasted off a lot of skinny fat with minimal cardio just by changing when I ate.
Hey Greg
Can I follow the Superhero routine and add this cardio after my workouts? Basically, for the last two weeks, I’ve just been following the SH routine, but removing the higher rep range workouts and just doing the RPT/ main movement to maintain strength. After that, I just 20minHIIT+ 20min(@120-130heart rate) Steady State burning 400cals. I lost 6lbs so far( most likely water weight) Can I do this long term untill I reach my goals?
Can I do this long term?
Yah you can keep doing that, it’s an effective strategy.
Is the steady state cardio more effective right after the interval workouts or can there be a break in between the two? For example if I wanted to do abs right after the intervals and then do the steady state cardio would it be as effective?
There can be a break! A break is probably actually beneficial because it takes time for HGH to peak after intense exercise.
Thanks so much for your quick response Greg! :) I definitely will add in that leg day with the plyometrics and the jumps. Should I keep the same rep ranges for the jumps and plyos? 3X5? Or should I do more?
Also any ideal day for the leg workout out of M, W or F?
I would for sure do upperbody M and F and lowerbody W. That way you have 2-3 days between upperbody sessions. For lowerbody plyos you can do sets of 8-10 reps.
Hey Greg! Massive fan over here :)
I just had a question for you. I am a avid tap dancer (I belong to the New Jersey professional tap company) and I would like to get considerably leaner. I was on my way, losing 1-1.5 lbs a week, in December of last year but a terrible crisis happened in my family (I lost my dear brother) and I ended gaining about 15 pounds. I want to get to my original goal of 135 (I’m 165 now) but I need a bit of guidance.
I was following your women’s workout that you posted here but I felt I needed more concentration on my legs giving that my dance requires it. Could I do the women’s workout on M,W,F (with some added leg work) and then do the cardio you recommend here on Tues. and Thurs.? Not sure if I should add sat. With the cardio.
Also what should I add in for leg work? Should I chose two exercises that I like and keep the same set & rep scheme you recommend? I will be following your diet recommendations, which I have found extremely effective in the past.
Thanks so much for the awesome posts Greg. Your guidance has been extremely beneficial for me and I am sure it will continue being so. :)
Junia KL
Hey sorry to hear about the terrible news!
As per your question, I’d do the womens workout 2x per week plus one leg focused workout. For the leg workout I would focus on squats, sumodeadlifts and step ups or lunges. 3 sets of 5 reps with a weight you can do for about 8 reps would be ideal. You can consider including some plyometics, box jumps or depth jumps.
I must be a nonresponder. I haven’t found that cardio burns much at all for me. An hour at 3.5mph burns like an extra 160 calories — according to my bodybugg device (which I trust a lot more than the treadmill readouts as they factor in BMR along with the Exercise Associated Thermogenesis).
That doesn’t make any sense! You should be able to burn 10 calories per km per kg of bodyweight.
So if you walk 5km and weigh 80kg then you should be burning 400 calories.
a great succinct argument of yours on the pros and cons of cardio, cheers pal. i do cardio, but nothing excessive and with just enough volume/intensity to go nicely hand in hand with a moderate calorie-controlled diet without blowing my appetite through the roof. however, the main reason i do cardio – and this is what baffles me about the anti-cardio crowd – is to strengthen my heart and lungs, which together with lifting for muscle maintenance and stretching to maintain flexibility, should form the ideal trinity of fitness. keep up the good work, it’s a great site!
Greg, I am currently using the clean bulk diet with the super hero training. I would like to do cardio not to lose fat but more to get my cardiovascular up. Which should I do and do I do anything to my calorie intake? I do manual labor as well. Thank you.
If you’re on the lean bulk died and you are doing manual labor and cardio you might need to raise your calories. This will mostly be dependent on your weight progress. Cardio should be fine, I’d recommend short, intense interval sessions to improve your cardio. I like to alternate 2 minute walk and 1 min sprint on the treadmill or 1:15 walk and 45 second sprint. I do this for about 20 minutes.
So in total, how long is the Treadmill Interval Pyramid session@ 1:15 walk / 45 second run x 10-12?
Yah exactly! I’d do 10 sets so it would take 20 minutes.
Hey Greg,
firstly i must say, i bought you muscle building program when you released it and ever since i’ve been following its principles i’ve only been breaking plateaus and always seen results in one form or the other. Thank you for all the honest information.
Now i recently started your new getting beach ripped dieting plan for the upcoming summer and i lost close to 4 pounds over 2 weeks (hard to tell accurately on a non electronic scale) and even one my lady friends saw my current state and said i quote ‘OMG where’s the fat??’ lol women really love them abs :D
Thing is i’ve felt a small decline of strength because for example yesterday on my 3rd set on RPT incline bench i only got in 7 clean reps (on a weight where i normally used to get in 8), and the last set of my barbell curls was also weaker than normal (on its respective day).
Would you recommend i up my calorie intake by 10% or start doing a carb re feed to maintenance calories every 4 days? (was doing every 7 days). Strength shouldn’t be lost in this cutting phase right?
Thanks again, couldn’t have got these results without you
Hey Aman!
Very awesome to hear about your progress!!!!
As you’ve been losing 2 lbs per week I think you can raise the calories considerably. I would bump calories up by 300 and your strength should start to climb back up!
Thanks a lot man!
i’ll implement the extra calories now.
Could I follow Visual Impact Cardio while on the Kinobody Strength and Density routine?
Yes
Won’t this negatively affect my strength gains/ burn out my CNS? I need a weight lifting program to follow while following visual impact cardio, but looking to gain strength.
No! This type of cardio is not remotely demanding on your CNS. Here – https://kinobody.com/2439/warrior-physique-part-2-training/
Hey Greg, killer article. Already lost about 2 pounds in my first week. So I’m pretty hyped up about this plan now hahaha. There’s few things I was curious on though. You said that this cardio plan won’t really improve someones cardio so i was curious how to go about this? I wanted to maybe do football or track next year so I really wanna bump up my cardio over summer. Also, how can I substantially improve my leg strength? Thanks.
It will definitely improve your cardio but it’s not geared towards maximizing your aerobic/anerobic fitness. The idea is to burn calories and see decent improvement in cardio and various benefits from being active. Squats and sumo deadlifts are ideal for building leg strength.
Hey Greg, thank you for the article. I was wondering how do you feel about circuit training or metabolic circuit training (no idea what the difference is)?
Thanks.
I don’t like circuit training and metaboic conditioning workouts for fat loss. They tend to interfere with recovery and strength workouts. As well, they have no profound fat loss advantage. You may be able to burn quite a few calories in a short period of time but that’s about it.
Thank you for your response Greg.
Hey Greg!
This week I decided to transition over to all body weight exercises, the Convict Conditioning stuff and Al Kavadlo stuff while weight training one day a week. Will I still make strength gains and maintain (or even add) muscle mass? I am also now trying to push my first meal later in the day in order to prep for summer quick.
Yah you can make strength gains and add muscle with bodyweight exercise. That said, I find weight training to be more effective. You can control exactly the amount of resistance you increase by. This makes making strength and muscle gains much more consistent.
Hey Greg,
Hope you fine, I’ve got a little question for you:
Whats the difference in the amount of muscle gain following the following kcal intake?
1 Lifting weights 3 times a week and only eating a 3-400 kcal surplus on those days and cutting 600 kcal on the days between; making a weekly kcal shortage.
2 Lifting 3 times a week with a surplus and eating maintenance on the days between and averaging a kcal surplus of 2000 kcal per week?
Would there be a large difference in muscle gain? I can’t find anything on it except from some noobs on forums.
Much appreciated,
David
You’ll gain muscle much more efficiently in the second scenario. If you’re past the beginner stages of training it will be difficult to add muscle at a fast rate while in a overall deficit.
Has no relevance to this post as much but couldn’t really find a place to post this. This is now a bookmarked page for me, flicking through your pages there is so much information that I could use. Basically it’s a awesome page. Keep the work going. PEACEE!
Following on from my previous post. I actually eat 2,600 kcals with 197 grams of protein, 255 grams of crabs and 70 grams of fat. Hope this helps in your advice and assessment. Thanks.
Oh, i see! Again those macros only add up to 2450 but it’s possibly you’re consuming 2600 with tag alongs and sauces and veggies…… It takes time to get lean, you want to aim for 1 lbs per week. If the diet is dialed in and you’re not screwing up then this shouldn’t be a problem. If you are hitting your macros very well and not losing weight then you need to make some adjustments. Carbs are the first thing I would bring down. Maybe take them down to 180 on rest days and keep them at 255 on training days.
Greg – great article as usual. I need some advice. I’m 44 years, weigh 202 lbs and have a 19.4% body fat. I look in good shape with the clothes on but I’m just not ripped. I have the body type that easily gains muscle but also gains fat. I certainly don’t look fat but I’d like to get ripped. I lift 3 times a week for 45-50 mins and run twice a week for an hour burning around 850 kcals. I eat 2,600 kcals a day, with 220 grams of protein, 210 grams of carbs and about 70 grams of fat. How can I get ripped at my age? What am I doing wrong? Can you help.
Those macros you gave me only total 2350 but you said you’re eating 2600 per day. That doesn’t really make sense.
Great site mate.
What’s your take on bodyfat set points, and more specifically, does the 2-3%bf you say it is possible to lose/month vary depending on how recently you were lean? Do you believe it is possible to recomp quicker also if you have generally been lean?
For example, I spent the past few years gaining slowly (too slowly with hindsight, needed more overall volume), and maintaining visible abs. In the past couple of months I’ve kicked up the volume considerably, and got slightly lazier than i needed to with my diet. I’ve put on 9lbs in the past 3 months, and now only have visible abs under good lighting (unflexed), or when I flex. I’m 6’1, 181lbs, wondering whether I can quickly and easily recomp at this weight (as I’d like to continue to gain quality muscle) or try to shed a few lbs of bf.
For sure body fat set points have a role in getting lean and maintaining leanness. Some people naturally gravitate to a lower body fat percentage than other people. There are some people who are just predisposed to being lean and stay at under 10% bf without much effort. Usually these people have very good leptin sensitivity that keeps their appetite very closely in tune with their activity levels. It’s hard for these people to overeat, even on non so clean foods. As well, when these individuals have a very easy time dieting and getting ripped. Most of us, however, are more likely to require a strong conscious effort to get to and stay at low body fat levels.
If you’ve been very lean before then you may lean down quicker but I’m not sure. You might just have an easier time dieting then someone whose never been lean before. Things like calorie deficits will still dictate fat loss.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Keep up the good work. It always makes enjoyable and informative reading.
Hey Greg. I’ve been working out 6 days a week for the past 5 weeks, and gone from 15% body fat to 13%. The past 4 days, my diet’s been consisting of something similar to your Christian Bale diet, having nothing more than 2 cans of tuna, 3 slices of protein bread, 30 almonds, plums (2) and strawberries (5), and a tb of peanut butter, along with lots of green tea. I do cardio on all 6 days, starting with 15 minutes of HIIT, followed by 20 minutes of steady state. Am I on the right path to getting lean, hopefully 8% body fat by this summer?
P.S. I don’t care much for muscle mass at the moment, planning on doing a clean bulk when summer’s over. Jesus, this comment’s huge. I’m sorry lol.
I think you’re going too low in calories. I don’t like to see people consume less than 10-12 calories per pound of goal bodyweight.
Very imformative clear and well explained. Thanks Gregory.
Thanks Kelly!
Hey Greg,
I work at the Mcdonalds as a cassier(5-8) hours a day, I prepare foods for the costumer and I often clean the whole restaurant. Do I need to do extra cardio because I am not 100% sure If I need or not.
Well you can stick to the diet and strength training only. Track your weight loss. If you’re losing 1-1.5 lbs per week then keep it as is. Otherwise you can add in some cardio.
What do you recommend for the meal after your fasted cardio? High carb/low carb/balanced? I’m only eating twice a day so just wondering what macro ratio to hit right after the fasted cardio.
Probably like 25% fat, 30-35% protein, 40-45% carbs.
Thanks for a great read Greg!
If I’m lifting 4-5x per week where would you recommend the cardio fit in? Lift morning/cardio evening?
Thanks much!
Good question. I’m all about a lower lifting frequency, usually 3 sessions per week. If you’re lifting 4-5x per week you can do cardio on your 2 or 3 rest days. Or you can add 20 minutes after weights.
Greg , what do you really think about about p90x , insanity ,etc , it could be a good topic for an article , i played both but then i discovered it is over training so i though the best is doing it but for 20 to 30 minutes .
If it motivates you to exercise and workout then great! In terms of losing fat and building muscle, it’s nothing special.
Once again, stellar article Greg! Posted it right on time, I need to do cardio tomorrow. One clarifying question though. My bf percent is like 15% and if I follow this whole Beach Ripped program to a tee (or pretty close), how long will it take to get to 9% bf?
You can lose 2-3% body fat per month. So it should take about 2-3 months.
My goal weight right now is 225 lbs, which would be a 70 lb loss. Depending how I feel maybe shoot for 205. I have a 52 inch chest which I’m sure can decrease by 6 inches or so. Biceps are holding at around 17 inches, waist is 38-40. Was at 36 inch waist when I was last in the 230 weight range. I’ll shoot for the 2 lb a week goal and concentrate on maintaining strength on my lift days.
Sounds good Chris!
Great read Greg! curious what are your thoughts of 15 to 20 mins of 35 to 45 pound Kettlebell swings on rest days 2 to 3 times a week? I workout 3 days a week M,W,F, doing compound lifts.
That’s a heck of a lot of swings! You can try it and see how it works for yourself. That’s going to be a lot of leg, glute and delt work. May or may not interfere with your strength workouts.
Great article Greg, cleared up some questions and confirmed some suspicions I had. I also almost totally utilize the elliptical for my cardio. I find I have much less joint pain, especially on the knee I injured while in the Army. The treadmill just causes a lot more pain, and every other piece of cardio equipment I have tried seems to pale in comparison to the elliptical in terms of calories burned. I am going to incorporate some kayaking and cycling into my cardio routine. I want to get outside more and be more active overall. I am not on a strict diet, but try to eat smart. I was counting calories very precisely but have dropped off with this practice as of late. I am a very solid 290+ lbs, 6′ tall. I carry it well and most people are surprised when they find out how much I weigh. I really want to drop some lbs but not lose much size. I don’t lift as much as I used to and certainly not as heavy, I only hope to maintain my current mass and drop the excess body fat. Thanks for your articles, videos, and insights.
At 290 lbs you can probably lose 2 lbs per week comfortably. The key to maintaing muscle will be in maintaing your lifts. If you can maintain the strength of your lifts then you won’t lose much muscle size at all. Of course, if you’re cutting a significant amount of weight, you will appear smaller. This is because certain body parts hold quite a bit of fat including arms, chest, back and legs/butt.
I too am using the elliptical for non-lifting days. I find that I can maintain a good speed and tension for much longer and go a full 4 miles in under 30 mins now.
I actually started my path to getting in shape walking very long distances (7-12 miles daily) but found that the 2-3 hour outings were causing me to get very hungry. Having a wider upper body than lower, jogging is just too, overall impactful for me to sustain good cardio pace and I find myself stopping too often. So ellipticals have been great for my off days.
I didn’t know about the 2-3 calories per pound tho. So I’m either going to have to add a little more tension to the machine or go a little longer/faster to make up the difference if I want to keep it at 30 mins.
Yep and make sure to plugin your weight to get a more accurate calorie burn figure.
Greg,
I agree that cardio plays a completely different role if you are training for physique vs. performance. Too much long distance steady state cardio totally burns me out, hinders strength gains and power and makes me super hungry. I stick with soccer 3x per week during off-lifting days and that gives me plenty of extra calories to play with.
Alykhan
Hey Greg,
Great article as always! But when are you and Christopher Walker going to have more RTR Podcasts up? I believe it’s been 2 weeks.
Thanks for the interest Farooq! We’re going to record a few episodes in the next couple of days to make up for it.
Good stuff man! Yo Greg, when does Project Mayhem start?
Soon!
What exercises would you recommend doing to make your lower chest look more square or straight.
Weighted dips, close grip bench. Also consider getting leaner. Depending on your genetics your lower chest may be more rounded. You can’t change this unfortunately.
Awesome article. You hit dead on! Cardio in combination with resistance training and proper diet is a easy and effective way to burn fat. I really like how you approach it also: you mix it up, intervals, steady cardio, and abs training.
Awesome post again bro!
Seriously, cardio is one of those topics where everything you’ll read is different.. Not that I put much stock in fitness magazines, but every single issue has some new program. That, or you hear all this about “circuit training” and Crossfit/P90X/etc..
It’s great to see an honest, easy to follow program.. And right in time to get my other 3 packs in my abs haha.
Quality stuff, as always..
-Tom
Greg b4 this post I was using ur muscle building workout eating in a calorie defecit and doing visual impact cardio. Do u think visual impact cardio is too demanding of a program when trying to gain strength(5 cardio sessions a wk)? I’m at 20% bf I need to get to 10% by July!
If you’re focusing more on upperbody in the strength department then you can probably get away with more cardio. I did visual impact cardio for a couple months without any negative effects. However, I would maybe cut back to 3 or 4 cardio sessions per week and see how that feels.
Nice job putting this together. People love an all or nothing approach, and this has helped lead towards the trend trend of believing this any form of cardio is going to “destroy dem gainz.” While, strictly speaking, extra cardio isn’t necessary, there are certainly reasons and advantages to incorporating it in minimal doses. Conditioning in general can benefit many an otherwise well structured program.
How about phase 3 on visual impact where strength training is combined with low calories and hiit training 5 times per week. Would love to know your opinion on this
Well it’s only 4 days per week I believe. I think it can be effective for a short period time. Maybe 3 weeks. Then you can ease off the HIIT, maybe 2 interval sessions per week and 2 lower intensity sessions.